Jeg mater katten.

No. In Norwegian, jeg is only capitalized at the beginning of a sentence or in other normal capitalization situations. Unlike English, the first-person singular pronoun is not automatically written with a capital letter in the middle of a sentence.

• Jeg mater katten.
• Katten ser at jeg mater den.

So English I is special; Norwegian jeg is not.

Norwegian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun.

• katt = cat
• en katt = a cat
• katten = the cat

So katten is literally cat + the.

This is very different from English, and it is one of the first big grammar patterns English speakers need to get used to.

A useful extra note:

• with an adjective, Norwegian often uses double definiteness:
  • den svarte katten = the black cat

Mater is the present tense of the verb å mate, which means to feed.

• å mate = to feed
• mater = feed / am feeding / feeds, depending on context

So the sentence is built like this:

• jeg = I
• mater = feed / am feeding
• katten = the cat

It can mean either one, depending on context.

Norwegian often uses the simple present where English might use either:

• I feed the cat (habitually / regularly)
• I am feeding the cat (right now)

So Jeg mater katten can work for both.

If you really want to emphasize that the action is happening right now, Norwegian can use other expressions, for example:

• Jeg holder på å mate katten. = I am feeding the cat / I’m in the middle of feeding the cat.

But in everyday speech, the simple present is often enough.

No. In Norwegian, verbs do not change for person the way they do in English.

You say:

• jeg mater
• du mater
• han mater
• vi mater
• de mater

So there is no English-style pattern like I feed, he feeds. Norwegian keeps the same present-tense verb form for everyone.

This is the normal Norwegian word order for a simple statement:

subject + verb + object

So:

• Jeg = subject
• mater = verb
• katten = object

That gives:

• Jeg mater katten.

This is the most neutral, natural order for a plain statement.

A very important broader rule is that Norwegian is a V2 language, which means the finite verb is usually in the second position in main clauses.

For example:

• Nå mater jeg katten. = Now I’m feeding the cat.

Here Nå comes first, so the verb mater still stays in second position, and jeg moves after it.

Not really. Norwegian nouns usually do not change form for subject vs. object the way nouns do in some other languages.

So katten is katten whether it is the subject or the object:

• Katten spiser. = The cat is eating.
• Jeg mater katten. = I feed the cat.

The form katten here is definite singular, not an object-case form.

However, some pronouns do change:

• jeg = I
• meg = me

So if you are looking for case changes, they show up more clearly in pronouns than in regular nouns.

To make it negative, you usually add ikke:

• Jeg mater ikke katten. = I am not feeding the cat / I do not feed the cat.

To make it a yes/no question, Norwegian normally moves the verb before the subject:

• Mater jeg katten? = Am I feeding the cat? / Do I feed the cat?

Notice that Norwegian does not use English-style do in questions and negatives.

English:

• Do I feed the cat?
• I do not feed the cat.

Norwegian:

• Mater jeg katten?
• Jeg mater ikke katten.

Pronunciation varies by dialect, and Bokmål is a written standard rather than one single spoken form. But in a common Eastern Norwegian pronunciation, a rough guide is:

• jeg ≈ yai / yei
• mater ≈ MAH-ter
• katten ≈ KAHT-en

So the whole sentence is roughly:

yai MAH-ter KAHT-en

A few helpful points:

• The g in jeg is not pronounced like a hard English g in go.
• The r in mater is a Norwegian r, which may sound different from your English r.
• The e in katten is usually weak.

Since pronunciation differs a lot across Norway, it is best to copy the pronunciation of the dialect or speaker you are learning from.

Yes. That is a very natural alternative.

• Jeg mater katten. = I feed the cat.
• Jeg gir katten mat. = I give the cat food.

These are close in meaning, but not identical in feel:

• mate focuses on the act of feeding
• gi katten mat focuses more literally on giving food to the cat

In many everyday situations, both are fine.

Because the sentence is talking about a specific cat, not just any cat.

• en katt = a cat
• katten = the cat

So:

• Jeg mater en katt. = I’m feeding a cat.
  This could be any cat.

• Jeg mater katten. = I’m feeding the cat.
  This means a particular cat, one that is already known from the context.

English speakers often need to pay close attention to this, because Norwegian marks definiteness directly on the noun.